Alberto Contador believes Tadej Pogacar can win Giro-Tour double: "The fundamental piece in this equation will be to see how Vingegaard arrives at the Tour"
Cycling
It is not surprising to say that Alberto Contador is completely in love with Tadej Pogacar. The Spaniard was a very offensive cyclist and logically loves the Slovenian's riding style as well as his attempt to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year, something no one has done since Marco Pantani did it in 1998 - whilst 'El Pistolero' did try throughout his career.
Thus, in a recent interview with the newspaper AS, the current Eurosport analyst commented that he believes it is possible for Pogi to win his third yellow jersey this year, but that the key will be the physical condition of his great rival Jonas Vingegaard:
"It's not easy, but I see it as viable. The fundamental piece in this equation will be to see how Vingegaard arrives at the Tour. If he's on the start line, it's because he sees himself with a chance to fight, at the very least, for the win. Maybe not with the guarantee of other years, but simply being in Florence will mean that for Tadej it won't be a walkover like it was in the Giro."
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Contador himself attempted the Giro-Tour double in 2011 and 2015, but things didn't work out as he had hoped. He talks about the difficulty he had in winning the Corsa Rosa and the difference between his team at the time and the UAE's big team that the Slovenian has at his disposal:
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"Let's see, actually my most feasible attempt was in 2015. I think I made a mistake and raced quite a bit before the Giro. Right after finishing the Giro I went to a high-altitude training camp, and I think that slowed down my recovery. Before the start of the Tour, I realized I wasn't recovered (he finished fifth). It was a very hard Giro for me, because Astana was very strong. I was attacked by Fabio Aru, Mikel Landa... plus I was already 32 years old. Tadej is going to be younger (25). The strongest team in the Giro was his and probably will be in the Tour as well. He has a lot of ingredients to be able to do it."
He makes it very clear that he loves Tadej Pogacar's cannibalistic spirit:
"We are in competition and professional sport. Real Madrid or Red Bull (F1, ed.) are not asked to let themselves win. If you have legs you have to take advantage of it, because then this life is very short. Tadej's crazy things are what I liked to do."
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